12 • <strong>Fo</strong>cus on <strong>Tyre</strong> Imports they were part of the discussions as a member of the <strong>SA</strong>TMC, and were therefore aware of the outcome of ITAC approving the application by NRCS, whereas Goodyear claimed they knew nothing about it. “We were neither consulted, informed nor pre-warned about the cancellation of the rebate on imported herringbone design agricultural tyres smaller than 36” rim diameter,” said Dustine Gascoyne, Goodyear Marketing Director. racing fraternity takes control Whilst the debate around who was or should have been consulted prior to this decision being taken rages on, the racing fraternity appears to have achieved the impossible, and is seemingly the only market segment to still enjoy rebates under this controversial Tarriff Heading. In an attempt to rescue the situation, they formed their own Inspection Committee to take over this function, and as a consequence, and with no assistance required by NRCS, the rebate on racing tyres imported into South Africa remains in place. Precisely how they were able to achieve this, and reasons as to why the agricultural sector was denied the same courtesy, is also open to debate. Robin Houghton, ATS, explained: “Bear in mind that the volumes of racing tyres imported into the country, along with the number of importers, are very small, and as such, administering these tyres is a relatively easy procedure. I believe this is why the racing sector has been granted leave to self-govern in this matter, that, plus the fact that the process is controlled by Motor Sport South Africa (M<strong>SA</strong>), which is an internationally recognised body responsible for controlling the sporting events in the country where tyres imported specifically for motorsport purposes would be used.” But once importers of agricultural tyres became aware of a potential problem around inspections and suggested establishing a similar selfregulated, self-funded Technical Committee for the same purpose, their suggestion was allegedly shot down. Said de Villiers: “We offered to contribute towards the cost of future inspections so that manpower resources can be increased, but our suggestion was shot down for fear that it would lead to traders abusing the system.” Notwithstanding, industry players claim this is already the case. They allege that the numbers of imported racing tyres currently on record are so vast, that dubious operators have obviously found a way to evade paying duties by classifying passenger tyres under racing tyres. Said Haffejee: “Under invoicing by unscrupulous importers at values well below raw material prices is the major hurdle in competing on a level playing field.” Added Kruger: “Dubious tyre importers will always be there and due to the import duties in place, they will continue seeking new ways and means to evade payment. I believe that if duties were to be abolished, this would automatically level the playing fields, and that these dubious operators would automatically disappear.” “The availability of ‘unknown’ brands is increasing and this is driven by two factors,” suggested Bridgestone’s Fava, “one being the pricing of these products and secondly, the willingness of the consumer to buy a cheap product at least once. The effect on our business is a diminishing market with great pressure on the production cost and the feasibility of local production. The current economic climate also contributes to the consumer looking for cheaper product and this product may not be the best value for money product, but simply cheap.” Are importers being unfairly targeted? So, what of this perception that tyre importers are being unfairly targeted? Said de Villiers: “As importers we are experiencing increasing pressure from government in the form of poorly executed campaigns to rid the industry of ‘dubious importers’ who under-declare values and use wrong tariff headings with rebates when importing tyres. In September last year <strong>SA</strong>RS began stopping containers without giving us detailed reasons for the
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